Virgil Suárez
Virgil Suárez (born 1962) is a Cuban-American poet, novelist, and academic. He is a leading writer in the Cuban-American community, known for such novels as Latin Jazz and Going Under. Life Suarez was born in Havana, Cuba. He spent four years in Spain, 1970-1974''A Century of Cuban Writers in Florida: Selected Prose and Poetry'', ed. Hospital and Cantera. p.168 and moved to the United Statesin 1974.Poets.org bio He attended high school in Los Angeles, California He earned a B.A. from California State University, Long Beach, and a Master of Fine Arts from Louisiana State University (1987), under Vance Bourjaily. He then studied under Sir Angus Wilson and Robert Houston for a year at the University of Arizona. He is a professor of English at Florida State University.FSU website He has been published in Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, Kenyon Review, Clackamas Literary Review, TriQuarterly, Colorado Review, Southern Review, Massachusetts Review, American Literary Review, The American Voice, Caribbean Review, North American Review, Manoa: A Pacific journal of international writing, Puerto del Sol, Northwest Review, Mid-American Review, Blue Mesa Review, Crazy Horse, Cimarron, ''and Tampa Review'', and also in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, England, France, India, Israel, Spain, Venezuela, and New Zealand. Suárez has reviewed books for the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Tallahassee Democrat. Suárez is married with children. Writing Suárez has stated that he no longer writes novels, and finds writing poetry better for him. He also states that Spared Angola is the work in which he found his voice. He continues to explore the experience of exile, of living as a gypsy.Isabel Alvarez Borland, "Writing without Masks: Virgil Suárez," in Identity, Memory, and Diaspora: Voices of Cuban-American Artist, Writers, and Philosophers, ed. Gracia, Bosch, and Alvarez Borland. p.157 (accessed via Google Books) Writing Suárez's first novel, Latin Jazz, was described by Newsday as "a striking debut. A well crafted and sensitive novel. An engrossing, honest book by a writer who cares deeply about preserving ties within the family unit and, by extension, within the Hispanic community and America. Suarez is marvelous." Notre Dame Bio His novel The Cutter was described by Publishers Weekly as a "powerful novel about one individual's response to the abuses and arbitrariness of totalitarianism that shows us how ordinary people can be driven to take extraordinary risks." His collection of stories, Welcome to the Oasis, was described by Kirkus Reviews as "A tightly controlled but affecting exploration of fundamental tensions" in the Cuban exile/Marielita community.accessed through Google Books New York Public Library named the collection as one of the top books for the Teen Age. Other praise has come from the The New York Times: ("Suarez writes in a cold, unornamental, Hemingwayesque style, always straight forward and cinematic") and the Village Voice: ("Like Oscar Hijuelos, Suarez has taken pains with his craft, orchestrating points of view and narrative time. His forte is directness of description and action"). Recognition * Best American Poetry, 2004. * G. MacCarthur Poetry Prize, 2002. * The Daily News/The Caribbean Writer/University of the Virgin Islands Poetry Prize, 2002. * National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship, 2001. * The Book Expo America/Latino Literature Hall of Fame Poetry Prize for Best Book of Poetry (for Banyan), 2001. * Winner of a Florida State Individual Artist Grant, 1998. * Winner of New York Public Library's Best Book for the Teenager, 1993. * Nominated for 5 Pushcart Prizes. Publications Poetry * You Come Singing. Chicago: Tia Chucha Press, 1998. * Garabato Poems. San Antonio, TX: Wings Press, 1999. * In the Republic of Longing: Poems. . Tempe, AZ: Bilingual Review Press, 1999. * Palm Crows. Tucson, AZ : University of Arizona Press, 2001. * Banyan: Poems. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2001. *''Shakespeare in Havana''. Hebden Bridge, UK: Rue Bella, 2001. * Guide to the Blue Tongue: Poems. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2002. * Landscape and Dream: Poetry. Louisiana Literature Press, 2003. *''Greatest Hits, 1983-2002''. Johnstown, OH: Pudding House, 2003. * 90 Miles:Selected and new poems. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005. Novels * Latin Jazz. New York: William Morrow, 1989. * Havana Thursdays: A novel. Houston, TX: Arte Público Press, 1995. * Going Under: A novel. Houston, TX: Arte Público Press, 1996. * The Cutter: A novel. New York: Available Press, 1991; Houston, TX: Arte Público Press, 1998. Short fiction * Welcome to the Oasis, and other stories. Houston, TX: Arte Público Press, 1992. *''The Soviet Circus Comes to Havana, and other stories''. Chattanooga, TN: C&R Press, 2014. Non-fiction *''Spared Angola: Memories from a Cuban American childhood''. Houston, TX: Arte Publico Press, 1997. Edited *''Iguana Dreams: New Latino fiction'' (edited with Delia Poey). New York: Harper Perennial, 1992. *''Paper Dance: 55 Latino poets'' (edited with Victor Hernández Cruz & Leroy Quintana). New York: Persea Books, 1995. *''Little Havana Blues: A Cuban-American literature anthology'' (edited with Delia Poey). Houston, TX: Arte Publico Press, 1996. *''American Diaspora: The poetry of displacement'' (edited with Ryan G. Cleave). Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 2001. *''Like Thunder: Poets respond to violence in America'' (edited with Ryan G. Cleave). Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 2002. *''Vespers: Contemporary American poems of religion and spirituality'' (edited with Ryan G. Cleave). Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 2003. *''Red, White, and Blues: Poets on the promise of America'' (edited with Ryan G. Cleave). Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 2004. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Virgil Suarez, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 14, 2015. See also *List of U.S. poets References Critical studies in English as of March 2008: #"Virgilio Suárez (1962-)." By: Roberto G. Fernández. IN: West-Durán, Herrera-Sobek and Salgado, Latino and Latina Writers, I: Introductory Essays, Chicano and Chicana Authors; II: Cuban and Cuban American Authors, Dominican and Other Authors, Puerto Rican Authors. New York: Scribner's; 2004. pp. 747–61 #"Virgil Suárez and Finnegans Wake (FW)." By: Tatsuo Hamada, Abiko Annual with James Joyce Finnegans Wake Studies, 2001; 21: 179-82. # "Virgil Suárez's The Cutter and Going Under: Beat on the Drum or Beaten by the Humdrum?" By: William O. Deaver, Jr. Anales Literarios: Narradores, 2001; 3 (3): 110-17. #"Going Under y Raining Backwards: Una lectura de enfrentamiento en el proceso de asimiliación dentro de la sociedad estadounidense." By: Humberto López Cruz, SECOLAS Annals: Journal of the Southeastern Council on Latin American Studies, 1999 Nov; 31: 85-91. #"Going Under and Spared Angola: Memories from a Cuban-American Childhood: A Contrapunteo on Cultural Identity." By: Leira Annette Manso, Bilingual Review/La Revista Bilingüe, 1999 Sept-Dec; 24 (3): 295-98. #"Humor e hipérbole en Raining Backwards y Going Under." By: Humberto López Cruz, Encuentro de la Cultura Cubana, 1999 Autumn; 14: 163-69. #"The Prodigal Son in the Structure of Raining Backwards, Crazy Love, and Latin Jazz." By: William O. Deaver, Jr.; Americas Review: A Review of Hispanic Literature and Art of the USA, 1996 Fall-Winter; 24 (3-4): 179-90. Interviews *"The Work We Leave Behind: An Interview with Virgil Suárez." By: William T. Vandegrift, Jr.; Quarterly West, 2004 Summer; 58: 68-79. *"Electric Dialogue: An E-mail Conversation with Virgil Suárez." By: James Mayo, Bilingual Review/La Revista Bilingüe, 2001 Jan-2002 Apr; 26 (1): 56-63. Notes External links ;Poems * Virgil Suárez profile and poem at the Academy of American Poets * Virgil Suárez b. 1962 at the Poetry Foundation *Three poems by Virgil Suarez, Bomb magazine *Four poems by Virgil Suarez, Barcelona Review ;Books *Virgil Suarez at Amazon.com ;About *Virgil Suarez at the Florida Poets Project *Q&A with Virgil Suárez, Valparaiso Poetry Review Category:American writers of Cuban descent Category:American novelists Category:American poets Category:People from Havana Category:Living people Category:1962 births Category:Hispanic and Latino American novelists Category:Florida State University faculty Category:20th-century poets Category:21st-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:California State University, Long Beach alumni Category:Louisiana State University alumni Category:American academics